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High School Debut, Vol. 01

(High School Debut #1)

Kazune Kawahara

4.09 · Rating details · 23,771 ratings · 355 reviews

When Haruna Nagashima was in junior high her life consisted of playing softball and reading comics. But now that she's going to high school, Haruna decides to put all of her energy towards getting a boyfriend and having the high school romance of a lifetime. To help in her quest, she enlists cute upperclassman Yoh Komiyama to coach her as she eschews her jock tendencies an ...more

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Paperback, 179 pages

Published January 1st 2008 by VIZ Media, LLC (first published March 25th 2004)

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Community Reviews

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Average rating 4.09 ·

Rating details

· 23,771 ratings · 355 reviews

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Apr 06, 2015 Ju rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, manga, coming-of-age

Probably one of my favorite shoujo mangas out there. All the characters are lovable despite their many flaws, particularly the main crazy duo: Haruna, who is just a ball of sunshine, and Yoh, the most adorable easily embarrassed kitten that can morph into a sexy mysterious man in like 2 pages. He's really multifaceted and that's pretty rare in shoujo love interests.

The story had moments that broke my heart and moments that made me laugh out loud. I'd say the plot has enough twists to keep you re ...more

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Jun 10, 2018 David Schaafsma rated it really liked it

Shelves: gn-romance, gn-women, manga-shoujo

Haruna Nagashima was a softball player and comic reader in middle school, not the recipe for popularity with guys, she figures. New to high school, she has set out on a quest to get a boyfriend. But she needs to be more feminine, and way cooler, obviously! She tries a number of silly makeovers that fail—she’s Clueless!--so she enlists the help of a boyfriend coach, upperclassman Yoh, who will help her as long as she doesn’t fall in love with HIM. He’s had enough with love, been hurt before, and ...more

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Jan 07, 2011 Michelle. D. rated it really liked it

I am writing about the overall series. I finsihed reading the entire series on January 7, 2011.

The overal series was pretty great. I gave it a 4 star rating. Let's talk about some things now.

I. Love. Yoh. I just love him. He is so adorable! Andd I hate that I have to say that. But I can't help myself, he is SO ADORABLE! ANd cool, and awesome, and hot(lol) and all those other wors to descibe him. I love his personality and I love how he is easily embarrassed. He is just so ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!! I w ...more

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Feb 15, 2016 Anya (~on a semi-hiatus~) rated it really liked it

Shelves: love-is-a-laserquest, manga-manhwa, ya

Pre-review thought Is it just me or does anyone else feel like a pedo for crushing on 17-year boys?

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May 16, 2008 Lisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: great-graphic-novels-for-teens

Charming, makeover story, a manga Clueless. Kind of. Until now, Haruna has dedicated her life to softball. Now in high school, she has decided to dedicate her life to the pursuit of love. But she's hopeless. Not one single person will hit on her. So she gets a coach, the brooding, popular Yoh. As long as she doesn't fall for him, he will coach her. Typical manga plot here - the brother-sister type relationship that could become a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship at any time - a cozy way to look ...more

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Jun 28, 2018 Mir rated it liked it

Shelves: graphic, ya

High school, or how wanting to be cute and liked by boys and fit into gender norms can transform a happy, confident, athletic girl into a depressed, insecure one who is still badly dressed and doesn't have a boyfriend.

Yoh is kind of a sucky makeover coach, actually. I wish I thought that was the point. I'm sure he'll end up with the girl, although Fumi seems much nicer.

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Jun 13, 2008 Cynthia rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: shoujo fans

Recommended to Cynthia by: originally read in scanlation, bought it, worth every penny

Shelves: manga, shoujo, viz

An excellent manga, plenty of humor, heartfelt dialogue and overall a highly recommended title!

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Oct 22, 2012 Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed, manga-stars-4-5-and-less, read-manga, manga-volume-1, manga-shoujo, 2012

I loved this volume more because of Yoh than Haruna. The art really made the difference, especially how Yoh is drawn so full of character! Love all his expressions! Also how his character used so much dialogue, it defined his character to me. His friends were really great and helped define Yoh even more - he's "critical" so would make a good coach. Really though its all about the words he used! We do get a hint about his back story. Basically a stellar scene is words coming out of Yoh's mouth!

Ha ...more

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Aug 24, 2019 Lost Within The Pages ❤ rated it it was amazing

This was my first ever taste of Manga....and I loved it! It was so cute, i kept wanted Haruna to admit who she was in love with!

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Mar 18, 2017 Mehsi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: cover-love, warning-english-books, 4-5-twinkling-stars, away-laughing-on-a-fast-camel, manga-light-novel, for-girls-one-shelf

Last year, at Animecon, I bought 3 of the 3-in-1 volumes, but I never got round to reading them. Until last night that is, I wanted something that wasn't too much for my head to take in, something light and easy, and I settled on this one. I had time to read one of them (after that I was too tired), and I am hoping to read the other 2 today.
It was a fun, hilarious manga, though I do worry about the girl. She seems to have absolutely NO fashion-sense (who walks outside in a dress meant for a par ...more

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Jan 12, 2012 Mizujin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: manga, the-favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book got me curious after making my seemingly uninterested friend (who happens to devour books of all sorts: classics, academic essays, theories, etc) shout: "I WANT A BOYFRIEND!!!" after finishing the 13-volume manga of Kazune Kawahara.

I was quite surprised that the the main characters became a couple only after a few volumes in the manga. Since the synopsis tells us that there is an actual love-coaching happening between the clueless girl and the surprisingly fabulous-on-love, serious guy This book got me curious after making my seemingly uninterested friend (who happens to devour books of all sorts: classics, academic essays, theories, etc) shout: "I WANT A BOYFRIEND!!!" after finishing the 13-volume manga of Kazune Kawahara.

I was quite surprised that the the main characters became a couple only after a few volumes in the manga. Since the synopsis tells us that there is an actual love-coaching happening between the clueless girl and the surprisingly fabulous-on-love, serious guy, I thought the "coaching", literally, would stretch until the middle of the manga revolving around this concept. I guess a follow-up reading after "Kimi ni Todoke", I was expecting a push-and-pull battle of emotions and plots for this title as well.

Nonetheless, I realized that the "coaching" was actually laid out throughout the whole series. Quite subtle though. At first it was literally coaching Haruna how to be attractive to guys and how to act around guys courtesy of Yoh of course. As they became a couple (eventually), it became clearer that it was Yoh whom was picking up more lessons from Haruna's passionate and pure love for him. Though having more experience in relationships, Yoh learned how to properly and sincerely love the person he is in a relationship with. Dating a girl whose idea of love were purely based on shojo manga, magazine write-ups and baseball strategies (it's comedy but logical) caused him to be more expressive of his own intentions and feelings; to act according to how he feels like to get her to understand his own affection to her.

As Yoh acknowledged by the end of the series that he might have been interested in Haruna from the very beginning she boldly asked Yoh to be her "love coach". Yoh, who seemed cold to everyone on first impression, had a dramatic turn of character. He was communicating better to friends, family and even strangers. Haruna saw through him as he did her from the start. Overall, I think it is Yoh who was the most rounded of all the characters involved.

I simply love Haruna for being the innocent girl she is. I admire her "I'll do my best" attitude because she brings the phrase fully to life. She's a typical shojo character that cries a lot. Though I can relate to her the most when it comes to fantasies of ideal first loves LOL.

If there is one side-character I want to highlight as well is Yui Asuoka. He's a sensitive and witty guy. He has a mischievous streak as well. He constantly pokes fun at Yoh since he can read the boy's actions so well. He tricked Haruna several times and "joked" around that he was interested in her; constantly dropping hints of choosing him over Yoh if ever they decided to break up. "Constantly dropping hints" only as it was clear as day for him that Yoh and Haruna was too deep into each other to notice anybody else outside their love bubble. When one is in this position of Asuoka, who actually likes Haruna but has to hide it for his best friend's happiness, a rather effective way of saving one's self from heartache is to deny; deny the fact that you feel that way towards that person. Make it a joke to them and convince yourself that it is a joke for you too. Defense mechanism. I guess that in all characters, he is one of the most mysterious. I'd give it to Takahashi Mami, Haruna's best friend for actually pointing this denying attitude of Asaoka for us.

Speaking of Mami, I'd love to have Asaoke and her to be together since they match each other so well. Both characters are smart, beautiful, sensitive and dedicated friends. Though they both seem perfect already and doesn't seem to have the dynamics aside from compatibility for a fun romantic story, I'm curious about that open-ended angle in chapter 46(?) when Mami seemed so show interest towards Asaoka.

And so finally (this is quite a long review), I thought 52 chapters was actually quite short for Koukou Debut. Quite short because I wanted more fluff from Haruna and Yoh. They are such a lovely couple, seriously. They have the common happy story of a high school sweetheart but then it made me realize why we constantly long for this kind of memory from the past at any given point in our life, despite the commonness. We long for it because it's beautiful in every way.

I love the fact that by the end of the series, when Yoh graduated from high school and was to separate from Haruna and everyone to pursue college in Tokyo, it made me feel nostalgic as well of the past 51 chapters of happiness and craziness of their lives. As if I was really part of Haruna and Yoh's group of friends, experiencing the same love and bitter memories of the last three years of high school life.

Though the very ending was surprisingly unromantic, I'm happy they retained just the right amount of romance and comedy throughout the beginning until the end of the series. :) ...more

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Oct 03, 2015 Konna rated it liked it

Shelves: manga

Read full review at: http://thereadingarmchair.blogspot.gr...

As I had watched the film, the summary of the manga was known to me. So, when I started reading it I knew what was going to happen more or less, and some part of me was afraid that it would be just like so many other romantic manga out there. But then the fun part begun! The story I knew concluded in the third volume! Now, if you've read manga with many volumes, like this one, you know that it can take a really long time for the feelin Read full review at: http://thereadingarmchair.blogspot.gr...

As I had watched the film, the summary of the manga was known to me. So, when I started reading it I knew what was going to happen more or less, and some part of me was afraid that it would be just like so many other romantic manga out there. But then the fun part begun! The story I knew concluded in the third volume! Now, if you've read manga with many volumes, like this one, you know that it can take a really long time for the feelings of the protagonists to finally get to one another. And here in this one, not only they confess to each other, they also decide to go out! In the third volume. And there are still ten more volumes to go. This fact alone picked my interest.

As it turns out, if someone asked me about the story of High School Debut I would probably give a different answer from the given summary. Ok, this is the starting point, but this manga has so much more! Haruna and Yoh do go out, but we watch them struggle to make this relationship work. There is jealousy, there is fighting, there are expectations to be met. One of my favourite parts is when Haruna tries to plan the perfect date for Christmas and it all goes wrong. It's not romantic at all, although they do have fun.

Both of the protagonists in High School Debut are likeable enough. I mean Haruna is always trying her best, sometimes maybe too hard, and she always tries to meet every obstacle with a smile, but she is also hopeless. She believes everything she reads in women's magazines, even though the bits of advice they give don't suit her. She could just be herself, maybe with a different wardrobe. She should embrace the fact that she is athletic and very good at softball. Yoh, on the other hand, plays it cool most of the time. He pretends that he doesn't care but he's actually very shy and gets embarrassed pretty easily. Although sometimes I feel like he could show his affection to Haruna more, there are times when he makes up for it. But my favourite character is Yoh's friend, Yui. You never really understand his deal. His thoughts are a mystery and his actions are often confused as jokes. He's not even sincere to himself about his own feelings. But he does help the story to move forward and I would surely miss him if he weren't there.

All in all, High School Debut was a fun read. It made me laugh more than once, it pleasantly surprised me and I didn't realise when I finished thirteen volumes. But I wouldn't say that it didn't have its flaws. Sometimes it got a little cliche, other times the characters were frustrating but my biggest problem was that the art style was somewhat generic. I felt like I had seen the same design many times before, so the characters weren't memorable to me. I would recommend it to those who want to read a pleasant and quite funny romantic manga. ...more

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Oct 09, 2008 Reader17 Der rated it it was amazing

Shelves: manga-read

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 08, 2010 Nicole rated it it was amazing

Shelves: manga, highschool_drama, shojo

Okay. I'm linking my review to just volume one, but let it be said that I devoured this 13 volume series almost in a single shot. Guilty pleasure, shojo manga at its best...and one of the few that's actually given me some giggles along the way. In short, 'tom boy' Haruna decides that she wants to get in touch with her feminine side after starting high school. Translation: she wants a boyfriend. She plans, she researches, she fails miserably. And then she enlists the coolest, cutest guy in school ...more

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Apr 28, 2013 maria rated it it was amazing

Shelves: manga

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEE high school debut!!!! Especially because Haruna is just like me, except I don't even try to get hit on.
Anyways Haruna doesnt know anything about clothes, like me.
She doesn't know how guys think, like me.
So this book was kinda like watching myself, but there's no Yoh in my life.
All the good looking guys are jerks.
I'm still too young to even think about dating :)

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May 30, 2014 Nidah (SleepDreamWrite) rated it it was amazing

A tomboyish girl name Karuna, wants to find a boyfriend now that she's starting high school. So she enlists the help of a student name Yoh to help her. Well this was a surprisingly good start to the series. I like the main character and one scene in particular made me smile. Definitely reading more of this series.

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Jul 12, 2016 Amber Hetchler (アンバーちゃん) rated it really liked it

Shelves: manga

Wow, I really loved this. Can't wait to read on.

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Dec 07, 2017 Brandi (Brandi Janee's Bookshelf) rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary, own-paperback, read-in-2017, romance, manga, ya

The story is a little predictable but overall it’s really cute! I can’t wait to see where this story goes.

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May 15, 2019 Abi rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, romantic-comedy, 2019-reads, manga, realistic-fiction, hilarious, iwantmore, library-book, relatable, young-adult

This was a funny, cute manga! I really want to see who Haruna ends up with. I like Yoh, but also Fumi, so at this point who cares, right? She'll likely end up with Yoh though. Anyway, this was a fun read, and would make a cute movie! 4 stars.

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Apr 27, 2013 Natalie rated it did not like it

Shelves: drama, manga, cute, romance, shojo-manga, school-setting, sports, manga-year-challenge

For my sports reading, I have to say that this isn't what I was expecting. I had to say that this is TERRIBLE! What do I mean by that? Well, let's take a look.

The story is tiresome and gets old really quickly. The characters are insufferable and completely forgettable. For being marked as a "sports" manga, there is nothing in here that is related to a sport except that the main character gave it all up just so she could have a shojo romance in high school! I'm not kidding. THAT is the plot of th ...more

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Feb 06, 2015 Bodea rated it liked it

Shelves: manga-manhua-manhwa

Note: This review is for the entire series. I’ll only do individual reviews for a series when it has 5 volumes or less or I've received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

In High School Debut Haruna Nagashima has decided that she wants her high school life to be about more than sports. She wants a boyfriend. The problem is she has no idea how to achieve her goal. She decides she needs a coach and approaches Yoh Komiyama for help. Eventually, the two start dating and the series takes us thro ...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Trey rated it really liked it

This is my first time ever reading a manga book or comic whatever.I have to say that at first it was kind of confusing trying to figure out how to read this but once I figured it out I got through this book within 60 or 70 minutes.Me having not read other manga series this one really makes me want to get into the manga series comics.High School Debut Vol.1 was amazing.Mangas kind of remind me of soap opera typeish books.With like these ton of book in a series(this one has 13 books total) and it ...more

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Feb 12, 2008 Nick rated it it was ok

Shelves: manga

Overall Rating: C
Synopsis: A shōjo manga created by Kazune Kawahara, the series follows Haruna Nagashima, who has just entered high school. In Middle School, Haruna was dedicated to softball, and didn't get involved in much else. Now, in High School, she has decided to apply the same dedication to finding a boyfriend. There's only one problem, she doesn't have a clue how to get started.

At the beginning of the manga, we see Haruna in ridiculous outfits (well, not that ridiculous, but pretty bad), ...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Lex Mori rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, books-to-purchase

High School Debut was one of those manga I kept running across in the backs of other manga and a couple times at the library and finally decided to give a try. Now I'm kicking myself for having waited this long.
This is Shojo through and through, and with an impressively great pace and structure. I can't say enough good about the execution of this one. There's a plot, there are twists, there are teeth rottingly sweet moments, and there is character development to boot. It's painstakingly obvious ...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Deeds rated it it was amazing

Shelves: manga

Haruna is a first year high school student who has never experienced love nor been asked out. Her focus had been entirely on sports throughout middle school and now she wants to give her all to finding love in high school.

I wasn't entirely sure if I would like this story but I got pretty sucked into the story right from the start. Haruna is such a clumsy, clueless girl - in fact in some ways she reminds me a lot of myself! - that she's extremely endearing. You can't help but laugh at her antics ...more

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Jan 06, 2012 Jessica-Robyn rated it liked it

Shelves: manga-manhwa

This was a pretty great start to this odd and funny series. It's been quite sometime, but I still remember that I watched the live action movie for this manga and was impressed by what I saw. It seemed perfectly cute, which it also is in manga form, so I'm glad I've finally gotten around to reading the series properly. (I was super lucky to just come across the first three volumes at the library.)

Overall I liked it less then I expected too, but that has little to do with the actual story and mo ...more

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Apr 03, 2012 Kristin rated it really liked it

Shelves: manga

Haruna's just started high school and she's looking for fall in love. Up until this point she's put all her focus in softball but now she wants a change. She enlists the help of Yoh to help her become more attractive in the hopes of finding a boyfriend.

Haruna has some really bad fashion sense. She wears clothes that are totally wrong for her muscular body and is really awkward around the opposite sex. So suffice to say, Yoh has his work cut out for him. He was once very popular, but that popular ...more

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Jun 21, 2014 Athena Ivashkova ~♥~ rated it it was ok

I feel like I should only rate and review novels on goodreads...because when I read manga, I'm not necessarily looking forward to compelling plots and thought-provoking, earth-shattering ideas and all that extravaganza. I can save that for my precious novels. I read manga to wind down, and think of all things fluffy and you know....hot, and fantastic art is a must. That is what is most important.

Kokou debut is definitely not the best manga I've read, or one of the better ones. It is satisfying ...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Elsa rated it it was ok

Shelves: manga

... Wow... This was an... interesting book. Um... There were so high points that made you laugh really hard but there were more low point. The whole book was simply awkward. It was extremely fun to read and to make fun of (shout out to Lily) but if you want a fantastic manga that you will fall in love with, I say that this isn't for you. Bottom line is: absolutely amazing to make fun of, horrible for a serious read.

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May 01, 2014 Savvy rated it it was amazing

So I would not have read this due to the fact that it looks funny on the cover, but my sister was like 'I'm reading it' and then she was like 'It is sooo good. You have to read it'. So I did and I love it. It's pretty good. It has a few twists and turns so it's not too predictable.

Barely any cussing and very clean. And funny. And cute. And you should read it too.

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About Kazune Kawahara

Kazune Kawahara

241 followers

• Birth Date: March 11th, 1972
• Blood Type: A
• Zodiac: Pisces

Kazune Kawahara made her manga debut at age 18 with Kare no Ichiban Sukina Hito (His Most Favorite Person). Also, while thinking of her manga, she often spaces out and brings grocery baskets home. Adores her nieces.